Nothing Personal – Day 23: Most Hated Character

Nothing to see here, carry on.

What, you’re staying? Seriously? O-Okay. But let it be known that I gave you fair warning. I’ve nothing good to say about any of these characters. You understand that, right? Fine. Suit yourself. Don’t expect me to justify myself here though. I have nothing but contempt for these characters and words alone are not enough to express that.

Warning: this post contains venomous spiel of the most unkind and coarse variety. Because much like love, if I’m to hate something I’m not going to half-ass it, I’m going to go all out and enunciate my profane hatred like the annoyed non-fanboy these characters make me into.

Shirou Emiya from Fate/Stay Night Unlimited Blade Works

Not that Shinji Matou or anyone that’s not Tosaka Rin is any better, but there’s something about Shirou’s dumb idealistic ways that just rubs me the wrong way. Shinji is despicable, no doubt about that, but he’s not the person I’m supposed to be rooting for – Shirou is. And when I don’t like the character I’m meant to be follow and cheer in their journey through the narrative, that’s a different and arguably worse thing altogether.

Nina Einstein from Code Geass

Oh this bitch. I’m not even going to elaborate on this one. There’s only one response to give to someone as loathsome as her.

Okay. Two.

Uchiha Sasuke and Haruno Sakura from Naruto

This is deep-seated hatred internalized over a decade of watching this show, folks. I don’t care if I understand why these characters are the way they are. The fact is that I have never managed to get past their irritating, dislikable traits and perplexing rationalization for their actions. I’ve never gotten over Sakura’s unfunny overly violent tendencies mostly targeted towards Naruto (the character we’re supposed to be championing) nor her insane love for the stoic, “cool”, tragic past angsty emo, Sasuke. Sure you can joke about her being “useless” and get enjoyment out of making fun of her for that, but that’s not the real reason why I dislike her… It is painfully grating to hear her constantly say “Sasuke-kun” throughout the series.

Understanding what led him to become such a stupid, revenge-obsessed, psychotic character doesn’t stop me from hating him. Maybe I’m wrong or being unfair, but I don’t care. I’ve followed these characters for so, so long that I just can’t forget their awful first impressions on me. Which continued for hundreds of episodes, I may add. How anyone liked them back then is beyond me, but hey, I’m not going to run away from dispensing my comeuppance on these characters I dedicated such a (relatively) large portion of my life to. You could say Sakura has learned to stop being an annoying bitch (to Naruto), but too little too late. And Sasuke… is a terrible excuse for a (tragic) character. Killer Bee, if you would please do the honours.

Raki from Claymore

Fuck you, Raki. You held back what could have been a (much) better show. You annoying piece of shit. I’ll never forgive you for your crimes against a work of fiction!

Mika Shimotsuki from Psycho-Pass 2

Call it recency bias, but she is perhaps the most inanely written and unlikable character I’ve ever seen in anime. She stole the title of most hated character from quite a few other candidates; some that were made to be hated, and others that unintentionally assumed that position, due to her terribly memorable role in the disappointing disaster of a sequel that is Psycho-Pass 2.

Her adversarial attitude and insubordinate behaviour toward Akane from the beginning already puts her in my “no fun” box, but to make her reasons not only baseless, but irrational to the point where I’m constantly questioning her sanity and why her Psycho-Pass doesn’t get clouded, really hammers in how annoying and unlikeable of a character she is. She questions Akane at every turn for no rhyme or reason – given by either the narrative nor her own logic and beliefs.

For someone who resolutely believes in the SIBYL System, and witnesses several times the Chief who represents as head of said system, giving Akane permission for her decisions and praise for her success and efforts, you’d think Shimotsuki would follow suit, but no. She for some reason holds onto this notion that Akane is wrong somehow and that she needs to be rescinded from her post as Inspector.

The nonsense isn’t the only thing I hate about this character by the way. Her expressions and manner quickly become a constant irritance in and of themselves, but the fact that her insubordinate actions go unpunished just rubs salt to the wound. Her mere presence bothers me to, funny enough, the degree Akane bothers her.

Not to knock on the seiyuu for this character, but I feel like the voice acting performance was done in such a way that I can’t help but think she was actually made to be hated. I mean she sounds as annoying as she acts. If that is the case, then well done, solid performance. You did as you were asked. However, I still hate the character.

I like Akane, a lot. She’s a great character, and I will not put up with the dumb, blind hate that is Mika Shimotsuki. Every scene she’s in just makes me facepalm so hard (the kind that leaves a mark), sigh loudly, and eye roll into the next dimension. Should I applaud this show for making me feel so strongly about a character, even if it was most likely done through a poor script and sheer incompetence? No, I shouldn’t.

I hate to bring in production issues here, because I’m aware of the surplus of difficulties and stress in the industry. However, it is down to her being a poorly written character, but I can’t forgive her for that. Maybe the staff, but not the character. It’s just not in me to get past the absolutely atrocious and unbearable stupidity of the character, and I’m of the mind that it’s not worth getting past it in the first place.